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Spurred by a green light from President Bush, the House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to raise the federal minimum wage for the first time in nine years, from $3.35 to $4.25 an hour by April, 1991, with a lower starting rate for teen-agers.
"The working poor of this country are still going to be very poor . . . but let's give them a little bit more," said Rep. Doug Applegate (D-Ohio) as he urged passage.
The bipartisan compromise, approved 382 to 37, was sent to the Senate for passage this week in hopes that Bush will sign it before Thanksgiving as a symbolic gesture to America's 8 million lowest-paid workers.
Bush, who once said he would not negotiate improvements on his own plan, apparently yielded to arguments from Republicans who said the remaining differences between his proposal and a rival Democratic plan were too small to continue a months-old deadlock.
Some Republicans said also that, if Bush did not compromise, he was inviting comparison to his proposal to cut the capital gains tax, which would benefit wealthy Americans.
If the new rate becomes law, it would mark the first time since President Ronald Reagan entered...